March 22 Washington DC Conference focuses on Israel lobby The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), the nation’s premier news source on Middle East, Arab American and Arab World issues, is co-hosting with the Institute...

April recognized as National Arab American Heritage Month The month of April has been recognized as National Arab American Heritage Month by at least 8 U.S. States and the District of Columbia. The effort needs...

Midwest Federation of American Syrian & Lebanese Clubs convention 2019 The conference will be held in Chicago at the Swissôtel Chicago, 323 E Upper Wacker Dr, Chicago, Illinois 60601 from July 4 through July 7, 2019....

Subscribe to Podcast

About Our Website

Ilhan Omar thanks voters for electing her to congress

Share this Story:

Ilhan Omar thanks voters for electing her to Congress

Somali Arab American Ilhan Omar thanks voters and Arab and Muslim community for helping her win Democratic Primary in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. Omar could be the most popular Muslim Arab woman in Congress. Omar will be sworn into office in January 2019 along with Rashida Tlaib, who also won the Democratic Primary election for Congress in Michigan’s 13th District

Ilhan Omar has been declared the winner of the primary election in the race for Congress to represent Minnesota’s Fifth District.

She will be the DFL candidate on the ballot for the November 6 general election.

“Tonight we are celebrating because we engaged and empowered our community and we won!” exclaimed Ilhan Omar, Democratic Candidate for the 5th Congressional District in Minnesota.

“Our campaign staff, our volunteers, and the people of the Fifth Congressional District are the inspiration we need to get up every day and fight for a democracy that guarantees a more just and equitable society. Together, each and everyone of us are the inspiration we need to keep fighting for a democracy that gets us closer to the American promise of prosperity for all and the hope for a better tomorrow. The inspiration we need to keep fighting for the America we deserve. Together, we will move our district, our state and our nation forward.”

As the first refugee elected to Congress (and the second Muslim woman after Rashida Tlaib of Michigan), Ilhan will bring a unique perspective and new energy to our nation’s capital. She will fight for working families so they are paid a living wage and have access to affordable housing and healthcare; for students to make college more affordable and debt forgiveness for those struggling to repay education loans; for immigrants and refugees to stop family separations, abolish ICE, and protect DACA.

Ilhan’s grassroots campaign for Congress focused on engaging, empowering and uplifting the voices of our community. Since announcing her candidacy in early June, Ilhan, her team, and more than 1,000 volunteers reached out to over 100,000 voters in every neighborhood of the Fifth Congressional District.

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

"I write about three topics, the Middle East, politics and life in general. I often take my life experiences and offer them in an entertaining way to readers, and I take on the toughest topics like the Israel-Palestine conflict and don't pull any punches about what I feel is fair. But, my priority is always about writing the good story."

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992. Hanania began writing in 1975 when he published The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper which was distributed through 12,500 Middle East food stores in 48 American States (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues for the Arab News in Saudi Arabia at www.ArabNews.com, Middle East Monitor in London, the TheArabDailyNews.com, www.TheDailyHookah.com and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has also published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday Newspaper in New York, the Orlando Sentinel Newspapers, and the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Palestinian, American Arab and Christian, Hanania’s parents originate from Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

The managing editor of Suburban Chicagoland Online News website www.SuburbanChicagoland.com, Hanania's columns also appeare in the Southwest News Newspaper Group of 8 newspapers.